Personal computer (PC) based thick clients or soft phones, such as Avaya one-X Communicator and Avaya Aura Agent Desktop, or browser based thin telecommunications clients, such as WebRTC applications, can operate in various modes. For example, in what is sometimes referred to as a “Road Warrior” mode, the media stream associated with a communication goes to and from the PC, with audible inputs and outputs typically supported by the PC's soundcard. As another example, in what is sometimes referred to as a “Telecommuter” mode, the media stream associated with a communication goes to and from a physical telephone that is under the control of the PC.
A problem that arises in connection with disability access and Section 508 compliance is that most PC clients have no inherent support for TTY communication. (A TTY, also known as a TDD, is an analog text terminal used by people who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, or speech-impaired for communication via a telephone network.) A soft client that does not provide inherent support for TTY communication must be operated in a Telecommuter mode, with the soft client controlling a physical TTY device, in order for a user of the soft client to communicate with another party using TTY communication. The problem is that many contact centers or other operations that use soft clients typically operate in Road Warrior mode, with no ability to change to Telecommuter mode mid-call. Accordingly, a contact center agent who receives a TTY call while in the Road Warrior mode will be unable to respond to that call without losing access to the job-specific options that a specialized soft client presents (e.g., an ability to view a list of the previous transactions associated with the caller's “caller ID” information).
In a typical scenario in which a contact center agent is operating in Road Warrior mode, the agent's first indication that the caller is using a TTY is that the agent will hear TTY “Baudot tones” in his or her headset. The agent must then quickly transfer the call away from the soft client to his or her desktop TTY device, and then answer the call with the TTY. Because the agent's PC is now no longer in the call path, all of the soft client functionality is lost. This can result in severely diminished capabilities because TTY devices are analog telecommunication devices with functionality limited to what is available on basic plain old telephone system (POTS) phones.
Another factor that must also be taken into account with a soft client solution is that only about 50% of TTY users are deaf. Most of the remaining 50% are hard-of-hearing. The distinction is important because the vast majority of hard-of-hearing individuals have no trouble speaking. Quite simply, their problem is that they cannot hear adequately on a telephone. These individuals often prefer to receive via TTY and then reply by voice, a mixed-mode style of communication referred to as Voice Carry Over or VCO. The person who is communicating with a VCO user must be able to transmit via TTY and then receive a voiced response, a mixed-mode style of communication referred to as Hearing Carry Over or HCO. Although the US Code of Federal Regulations, 36 CFR Part 1194.23(a), requires support for mixed-mode voice-and-TTY communication, neither the Road Warrior nor the Telecommuter modes of operation satisfies the regulation.
Although it may seem that the obvious solution is to embed a “soft TTY” function within the soft client, thereby allowing TTY support while in Road Warrior mode, this solution is impractical because of the large variety of incompatible TTY protocols in use around the world. For example, TTY devices in the United States follow the 45.45 baud Baudot protocol, TTY devices in the United Kingdom follow the 50 baud Baudot protocol, TTY devices in Germany follow the EDT standard, TTY devices in France follow the Minitel standard, TTY devices in Sweden follow the V.21 standard, and so on.
A solution is required that allows an analog TTY device to be used in conjunction with a soft client, while continuing to use the PC's audio capabilities for voice communication.